BIG INTERVIEW: Bernard Manning Jnr

1. An easy question to start with Bernard, is relegation a formality and have the club accepted they will be in UniBond Division One next season?

You have to say on paper it looks a hard task for us to avoid relegation on our form this season and our current position in the table, but we have always said if we could get to 40 points we stand a chance and that is what we have been trying to do, we have 9 games to go to try and get 14 points to give ourselves that chance. With the way it is now you could get out of the bottom three and still go down as you now have to have a better record than the teams fourth from the bottom in the other two feeder leagues, so it makes it a huge task but I know we will give it our best shot right until it is mathematically impossible, we certainly have not accepted defeat and that we will be in the first division next season and I do get disappointed when I hear those comments. If we had accepted defeat we would not have enticed and paid nominal fees - which we could ill afford - for Tim (Dittmer) and Fitzy' (Ian Fitzpatrick) to the club from teams in the Conference North, with 9 games left which effectively is just under a quarter of the season to go we still have a lot of football to be played. We have an honest set of hard working players at the club and a dedicated management team who I know will not give in and will fight to the end and I never have a problem with the effort and commitment they give the club. (looking at a league table on the table next to us) Look at the top teams there, we have played Telford (2) / Hednesford (2) / Witton (1) / Burscough (2) and Marine (2) and I am sure you can see our record and certainly performances against those teams heading for promotion in the top 5 is proof we can perform with the best, there is a very fine line from being in trouble and being comfortable and in turn looking at promotion.

2. What has been the difference then and why has the team struggled this season to turn some very good performances into results? Are the players good enough?

I don't think it has just been this season we have had a difficult two-three years and to be fair the management team have had to work under very difficult circumstances during those years, whilst we have tried to put some financial foundations and future plans and strategies in place at the club, working with a budget inferior to the majority of clubs in this league. I feel the lack of goals is the main route of the problems if you cannot score goals you don't win games and the confidence gained from winning games can breed a different player and team performance. In my opinion we have totally dominated a number of games this season and come away from them with nothing and it was the same last season. Our goals record has meant that as a side we have struggled. That was evident when Jody (Banim) returned last season we had a great run in with the same players but we had a goalscorer and the difference was there for all to see. The style and way we play has always been the same and I hope it always will be, it's the goals we have missed and this leads to all sorts of problems in other areas of the team mainly through confidence and belief. You would have to ask the management if the players are good enough it is their job, in my opinion they are, apart from strengthening in one or two positions and having that cutting edge, we have a group of players who are seen by other clubs as good players and they would like them in there side, so that tells me a story and we are a well respected team by other managers and directors and I believe rival fans despite our position.

3. Why if the team have struggled for goals and wins do the club continue to sell their best players especially goalscorers and attacking players?

Very simple, it's because it keeps the bailiffs from the door! and helps us keep the other players in the squad at the club and helping pay 3-4 weeks of players wages / expenses through a sale has been vital at those times. Without the income from those sales we would almost certainly not have kept some of the players we have had over the seasons, including the ones we eventually sold. Since I have been chairman the main sales have been Paul Mullin / Neil Hardy / Simon Carden / Jody Banim / Richard Battersby / Ciaran Kilheeney / Steve Foster / Danny Hurst almost 70k worth of talent an incredible amount for a club the size of ours and not just accumulated on one player. There have been other nominal fees received for players which would probably take it up to the 75k mark and I can honestly say all those fees were used to keep other players at the club and keep the club operating and developing and that is the only reason we have agreed to sell them. It is also fair to say it was only right, that we gave them the opportunity to progress and as a club I believe we have benefited from that reputation. It has been difficult for the management to lose players of that nature over a relatively short number of years, but more to the point keep replacing them. No management team would like to constantly lose the players of that stature and neither does the board of directors, however we are all aware of why it happens and it is the reason we are working as we are behind the scenes, to hopefully not be in that situation again.

4. Would the club be better off being in the UniBond 1st division next season with fixtures such as FC United, Rossendale, Chorley and other local clubs and competing for promotion?.

First of all we have worked hard over the years to be in the UniBond Premier division although financially it is getting harder and bewildering, and we would like to keep our status although being unable to compete each season in that division and being in the same situation each year would be something I don't want to be involved with. It has to be stated going down does not make it any easier, the UniBond 1st division is a difficult league and some of the wage budgets in that division are already bigger than ours now and that is fact and teams coming up from the North West / North East Counties leagues are not shy of spending monies and can and will compete financially in the UniBond. If we are not successful in the financial initiatives we are putting in place it does not matter which division we are in we will find it hard to compete. We have in my opinion at this club been spoilt over the years in the players' teams and performances we have seen and the quality of football which has been provided, football has changed at this level and attracting players to your club comprises of so many things these days not just wages / expenses. The fact is you are not guaranteed success just because you go down it does not work like that; in fact it can be harder. The key to it all is we have to have the structure in place to compete in the UniBond league full stop, which means we want to have the same budget in place whether we are in the premier division or the 1st division, that is what we are working towards.

5. How do we differ from teams such as Prescott, Frickley, Ossett, Kendal, Lincoln, Ashton to name some of the clubs that are similar to us in this division?

Clubs have different circumstances and how they earn there monies for their annual wage bill. Some have established clubhouses that provide income, others have 5/6 directors who may lose 3/5k per year as their support others have a main benefactor who pays most of the bill themselves, and then there are clubs who can relay on income from their crowds to help. The clubs mentioned above may fall into one, two or maybe all of the above categories; the difference is we fall into none of them at the moment; we did in the past and were above most if not all of those teams. We do not have a clubhouse that provides us with finance, we do not have directors who provide that kind of income in fact we only have 5 directors, we do not have a main benefactor and we have not been able to generate substantial income from the support we receive on match days. However in fairness to our club I believe we have invested in our facilities also and at some cost, which we may have used for the team, and has been far more than any of those clubs mentioned above. One because we have had to for ground criteria to progress and secondly we decided it was the way we wanted to go and felt it would be in the best interests of the club for the future to have facilities which would benefit the whole community. Every club has its own blue print and some forget facilities and development at the expense of funding a wage bill for a season or two, we felt 3 / 4 years ago we wanted to try and build a football club and facilities that would provide us income year in year out and I believe we have set that in motion, unfortunately at the expense of funding the team it has to be said as you cannot do both at the same time. Which is the right way only time will tell; I have to believe our way will prove to be the correct way forward. I am sure those clubs mentioned above would be delighted to have the facilities in place we have which will lead to future income.

6. What do you say to supporters that are not interested in the facilities and initiatives being created at the club and just want to see a successful team on the pitch?

I have to say it will not happen - a successful team on the pitch - without creating these facilities and developing schemes and initiatives and it is naive of supporters to think it can happen. The true fact of the matter is we are hoping to generate new income streams in the future to support the team, and if we don't we would have a wage bill of £300-£800 which would see us in the North West Counties league. Our average net balance on a home game after paying out all our expenses (not the players) is around £500-£1000 and the VAT has to be taken off that! If we have two games a month it brings us net £1000-£1500 I am sure you don't need to be an accountant to see the problems. Therefore the way we have decided to go is the only way, we have to create a vibrant Clubhouse, a vibrant Sports Complex and a vibrant Football in the Community Scheme that in the future will help us provide a vibrant team on the pitch, without the facilities and initiatives being created a successful team on the pitch will only materialise if outside investment is brought into the club and we have tried that on many occasion. It may take time for them to flourish and we have to be patient and probably endure some further heartache but I hope it will be worth it in the future, I know we keep talking about the future, but the scenario is we will not have a future certainly in the UniBond league if we are not successful in those areas.

7. What kind of monies do the club have to generate to operate for a year?

Just talking about the football operations side of the club, a lot depends on the players wage bill / expenses but I would imagine with the wage bill we have had this season our costs will be between £70k-85k and that includes all our bank repayments and loans and all our running costs. It is a lot to find when from the home games we get around 10k-12k per season bringing in an extra 60k plus is not an easy task.

8. Why do the club fund a Football & Community Development Officer at the expense of a player - possible goalscorer?

I am aware that we are the only club in the UniBond and possibly Conference North & National that fund directly a Football in the Community Development officer Peter Lofthouse - In fact we have a part time assistant also Paul Iannaccone - and it goes back to that word future. The work that goes on in this area really is outstanding and it is the future of the club, we are introducing the club consistently to new people and supporters and the reputation of the club has grown enormously. We have to generate new support as well as income and this certainly is happening. I am convinced Radcliffe Borough Football Club is more known now than at any time previously. Parents are aware of the club and its facilities which lead on to all new opportunities; club hire for private functions and much more, maybe possible future sponsors. The services we are providing for a club of our size is excellent and this has been recognised by a lot of people none more so than the local community. We had just short of 50 children on the last soccer course and the Saturday clubs are attended by 25-35 children with half of them attending the full day and watching the game, so as you can see it is future support. The scheme visits schools, provides birthday parties, provides sport educational courses, provides in school coaching with a match visit at the end of the term, junior tournaments and much more that supporters do not see. It is also beginning to work and be productive now and is on the way to becoming self financing, which will mean we will benefit from all those activities without it costing the club, which is an amazing achievement to become self financing after only 2-3 years, it has been one of the most pleasing and rewarding initiatives we have worked at and the benefit will be evident in the future, whilst the funding of the Development Officer may have been used for a player, I am pleased we made the choice we did in putting it into the scheme.

9. Why does the Social Club and Sports Complex not contribute to the football side of the club?

At this moment in time it has to ensure it is running efficiently before transferring any monies over and the business has to be built up, they have both only been open since October and we still have to finish off one or two projects. We also have to repay the loans we received to build and refurbish them, which are the first priority. We envisage the business will be in full flow within the next 12-18 months and then we may get the opportunity for that company to sponsor 2 / 3 maybe 4 players which would be a tremendous boost to the quality of the team with that financial input. The hard work has started and Tony and Sue are working extremely hard and we want a facility that will be used Friday / Saturday / Sunday and hopefully we can encourage supporters and locals to use it as their local during the week and create a members club. The developments in the Clubhouse and the Sports Complex have been done with the development of the team very much in mind.

10. What do you see as a competitive wage bill?

How long a piece of string, what I will say is the wage bills at clubs in this division are higher than ever before and I would say if you put all the clubs together an average would be between 2k-2.5k per week, I don't think I would be to far off with that statement, some clubs in the league are above that some are below like ourselves but it shows you what we are up against, in fact Rossendale from the 1st division openly said they have a wage bill of 1.7k per week recently. What I also will say is I would like to see our management team have the level of funding of some of the teams they compete against and I am sure with 2k -3k at their disposal I wouldn't hesitate to say we would be competing at the other end of the table. I am sure if the initiatives we have in place are successful our wage bill next season will allow us to compete and the management team will be happier than they have been for a long while, let's hope they are.

11. What do you see as a beneficial average attendance?

If we could attract 250-300 paying customers per game now, it would have a terrific effect on the club finances with £7 for an adult and £4 concessions it normally averages at £5 per person that would give us an income £1250-£1500 after expenses if could double our current net take, if we can break through the 300 barrier on a regular basis it would be a huge boost financially, which would be directed to the team.

12. What has the recent share issue monies gone towards.

Despite many stories, such as they have gone in the club shop, etc - why people listen to these unfounded rumours I do not know - the fact is the share monies - May I take this opportunity to personally thank all those who purchased shares in the club it is very much appreciated and hopefully by being a part of the club it will encourage others in the future to have a piece of their local club - have gone towards finishing some projects in the clubhouse mainly the toilets, and purchasing one or two items, work on these will be starting in the next couple of weeks and surplus monies have gone into the club for general use paying bills, etc. I am sure a detailed amount will be issued in the near future by company secretary Graham Fielding to how much new finance was raised by the recent issue of shares.

13. What is the role and purpose of supporters' club members Dave Greenough and Graham Evans being on the Football Board?' First the Football Board' meets to look at the running of that side of the club and has no input into Radcliffe Borough Sports & Social Club and the Football in the Community Scheme. Dave runs the club shop and does an excellent job and Graham is chairman of the Supporters Club and both wanted to help us take this side of the club forward and have taken one or two projects on board to help us out. They also can see for themselves the type of work that is needed to be done and how difficult it is to run a club at this level. Hopefully by being involved they can relay to other supporters information and in general be a link between the board and the supporters, they recognise how the club has to be run and both have the club at heart and want to see it grow in a sensible way, but first and foremost they are genuine supporters who have been supporting the club for a long time, I am sure it has opened their eyes to the many aspects involved in running the club, but I think they have enjoyed it so far and we have also benefited from their involvement.

14. Is the UniBond Premier the highest level we can compete at?

At this moment in time I have to say it is, even now there are half a dozen to ten teams who really push the boat out in this league and two players salaries at those clubs can total our whole matchday income. However as I said before we have shown we can compete with the top clubs and with 3 - 4 new players of the right calibre in the right areas of the team, they will supplement the players we have and we can be a success, but we have to find the funding for those players whilst keeping the ones we have, which is what we want to do. The Conference North has risen to a new level and from the players who have moved on from us to clubs in that league we know the type of salaries players are receiving and we could not hope to be in that league and not struggle without having the foundations we are trying to put into place, also ground criteria will come into the reckoning and we will have to complete a number of projects to be allowed in which again will cost us money. We would love to have a go in that league and it is what we will be aiming for and would be like reaching the National Conference for a club like ours but it is our goal, our first task is to try and stay in the UniBond Premier league and be consistently known as one of the top teams in that division always competing for promotion.

15. What initiatives are you looking at to be successful next season?

Well, we have we feel cemented the clubs main fund raising event of the year the Charity Golf Classic' and we hope our new initiative the Summer Ball' will be a success and an ongoing fund raiser for us. Our Comedy Nights' are set in stone and the Valentines' evening was a huge success so we will be holding another event next year, therefore in general we hope those initiatives will continue to be successful. We hope the Lucky 7' will provide the impetus for the club to move forward on the pitch and I am sure you can see the amount of work we have afforded this initiative, as we believe it will be the difference for us, we are also looking to find sponsors who will fund a player for a full season and we hope to acquire 4-6 of those with a little luck, We are also looking at creating a unique Vice Presidents' club which will be explained towards the end of the season and we hope the Supporters Club will continue the success of the Lifeline Club'. Other ideas and initiatives I am sure will figure for next season - we have one or two ideas for pre-season - and these will need to be given some consideration, but there is only so much a person can do, so the help of the Supporters Club with the Lifeline Club' and the Matchday Programme is very much appreciated. I am sure you can see a lot of work goes into creating and making all those initiatives and events successful.

16. As chairman of the club what has been your greatest achievement?

I really believe there have been so many different types of achievements in my tenure both on and off the pitch it would be too many to list. I can say this club has developed so much both in facilities and respect and recognition, it sometimes is not recognised by ourselves and it is only when the opposition attend and continually comment that you remember and think about it, I will leave it to others to make comment on how far we have come, I will have a think for the next time I am asked that question.

17. What is the blueprint for the club you mentioned before?

Once again the question would take a while to answer, but to try and sum it up we want to build and develop a football club which is as out motto says More Than Just a Football Club' and we want to provide activities and facilities for the whole community during the week and our supporters on match days, which in turn will have a direct benefit and effect on providing success on the pitch and both will go hand in hand. We also want to provide a structure that will not collapse in the future and thus ensures Radcliffe Borough Football Club will always be playing in the non-league and financially sound, finally we would like to climb and be a regular member of the Conference North in the future. Not too much to ask for is it!!

18. What have the supporters got to look forward to over the next 2-3 seasons on the pitch?

I believe this season has seen us be successful off the pitch in one or two big areas of our development plan and therefore this should provide us with the start we need to reproduce the good times on the pitch over the next season or two and if we remain in the Premier League we want to be in the top ten with an opportunity to compete for a play-off position and if we are unfortunately relegated we want to be competing for promotion at the first attempt and hopefully from both of those scenarios each year after we want to keep progressing and developing, it is so dependent though on our initiatives off the pitch work, also personally I have always enjoyed the FA Cup runs we have had against York City, Chester City and Hereford United and I would like to be involved in another of those games again, 19. So the club can look forward to a bright future both on and off the pitch?

I believe we can, it is frustrating as we all want it to happen on the pitch immediately but we have to be patient and we will get there as a stronger club I hope and it is not for the want of trying by those currently trying to make it happen, believe me all of us behind the scenes want it to happen more than anyone and are providing a lot of hours, personal commitment and finance trying to make it happen. I am sure it will begin to take shape and hopefully it will start next season and the club can start to recreate those occasions such as the FA Cup ties and play off games we had 3-4 years ago. Each year as a club we are progressing and as a supporter I am sure you can recognise that, we are doing that to also provide the resources for us to progress on the pitch and I am sure as time moves on this will become more and more evident.

20. Can you just give us a quick breakdown of the structure of the club and its different companies?

We have 3 limited companies; RBFC - This is the football club which plays in the UniBond league. Radcliffe Borough Sports & Social Club - This is the old Boro Club and Sports Complex companies combined, and finally Radcliffe Borough Football in the Community - This is the new community scheme which has now bee registered as a limited company, all three are run independently.